The Night Before The Betrayal
by Ebenbild
Summary: "Don't ya rue the day you sailed into a tornado just to avoid catching me, Commodore?" But when James Norrington looked at the other, he saw a boy – and it was the boy James wanted to reach out to and never forget. A conversation and a secret between James Norrington and a certain pirate in PoTC2. NO SLASH or romance! Continuation of "The Night Before The Gallows" can be read alone


_**Disclaimer**_ _: I don't own PoC, sadly... T.T_

 _ **Placing:**_ _A night or two before James Norrington betrays Jack._

 _No SLASH! I know there are a lot of stories about those two as lovers – but I have actually never seen something like this and decided that at least one story should be added to the archive that shows them a bit differently…_

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sSsSsSsSs

 _ **THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BETRAYAL**_

sSs

" _I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves:_

 _A short drop and sudden stop_!"

sSs

Commodore James Norrington was sitting on deck of the Black Pearl, watching the world go by. It had been three days since he was accepted as part of the crew for Jack Sparrow's ship.

It had been three work intensive days and this was the first time he actually had some time to just sit and relax. It was quite late at night, and the most pirates were asleep, so James actually had some undisturbed time to ponder his new situation – at least that was what he thought until a voice from behind him spoke up.

"Don't ya rue the day you sailed into a tornado just to avoid catching me, Commodore?"

James stiffened at the voice then slowly turned to look at the man behind him.

Black dreadlocks, dark eyes and a healthy tan – so unlike what James always expected to see when he heard the other ones voice, and yet the reality.

A reality, he still couldn't accept.

The dreadlocks – he hated the dreadlocks.

He hated the beard, the clothes, the demeanor of the other man.

Everything the other man presented, everything the other man stood for – James Norrington hated it all. And yet, here he was, staring at the other man and seeing not the man who was standing in front of him but somebody else.

He saw a boy.

A boy, nearly ten years his senior, but still a boy – and it was the boy James wanted to reach out to, it was the boy James wanted to call out to.

For a moment, he wanted to blurt out the name he had always called the other man in front of him – the boy of his memories – but in the last second, he swallowed the word and forced out another one – one that he hated to say, yet had to say now – out of his throat.

"Captain," he said darkly.

The other one raised an eyebrow at him and swaggered over to him so that he was standing next to where James was sitting on the deck.

"Bit lonely here, isn't it, mate?" The man slurred and looked around as if to ensure that not another pirate or two would decide to pop out of the floor around them.

James rolled his eyes.

"Exactly like I like it," he stated coolly. "Do you want something from me, Captain?"

The pirate captain frowned down at him at that before looking at the bottle of rum he was currently carrying.

"Nah," he said. "I was just on the way back to me quarters after ensuring that there's still enough to drink on board."

James looked at the bottle in distaste.

"I… see," he said slowly and the boy in him wanted to beg the other man to sit down next to him and hide him from his nightmares. "Then I don't want to stop you… Captain."

For a moment it looked as if the other man would amble on, but then his eyes narrowed at James.

"There's something you're not telling the good old Capt'n Jack Sparrow, isn't there, my gent?" The pirate stated and flopped down next to him uninvited, nearly spilling his rum in the process.

"Hopsala," Jack Sparrow slurred. "That could have gone wrong just now…"

And James turned his face away so that he didn't have to look at the other man.

"I never said that I'd love to have company," he said instead unhappily.

As an answer, the rum bottle was held out towards him.

"But maybe you'd love to have something stronger?" The captain suggested.

For a moment, James stared at the bottle with distaste in his eyes, then his eyes locked with the familiar dark ones of the other man and the man took back the bottle to stare at it and then corking it without even taking a sip himself.

"And there I thought you managed to overcome your hatred for rum," the older one said and hidden beneath the amusement was plain concern for James. "Especially considering how often I saw ya drunk within the last few days, Commodore."

James stared at the older one darkly.

"I'm not a commodore anymore," he said unhappily.

"So what?" The other one asked. "You wanna me to call you by your last name? Not gonna happen, savvy?"

James pressed his lips together at that, not want to admit that he couldn't even picture the other one calling him by his last name – but then, he couldn't picture himself calling the other one 'captain' as well, and yet, there he was and had to…

"Jo –"

He stopped in the middle of the word he wanted to say, his eyes straying to the dark ones of the other.

For a moment he rung with himself and with an apology he tried to utter yet was unable to voice, then he forced out just the correction of the word.

"Capt'n," he said and the other one smiled at him, some bitterness but also understanding in his normally so unreadable eyes.

"'S hard to admit that for you, isn't it?" The older one asked and James pressed his lips together.

"No," he replied, lying through his teeth. "It's not."

The other man laughed at that, but his laughter was fake and hollow sounding.

"Oh, my dear Commodore!" Jack Sparrow exclaimed. "So proud, so stuck in the past you are!"

James' eyes narrowed at the other.

"Unlike others, I might not want to forget," he pointed out coolly. "Unlike others, I might see something good in the past something worth to keep hanging on!"

The other man just raised an eyebrow.

"It's the past," he said dismissively to James. "It's over and done for. I don't see a reason to hang onto something that will never return even if I wanted it to!"

"Jo… Capt'n!" James objected while leaning forward towards the other with fire in his eyes. "I'm not sure if you even understand why I'm still hanging onto my past – so don't judge me for it!"

The pirate just looked back at James pityingly.

"He won't come back, you know?" This time, Jack Sparrow's voice was soft and sorrowful. "Stop standing at your childhood-room's window waiting for him. He's gone – and he will never come back ever again."

Like a knife those words entered James' heart and he had to avert his gaze, unable to look at the other man anymore.

" _It's Jack now, Jimmy," a voice whispered in his memories. "John's dead. You'll have to get used to that."_

" _But, John!"_

" _No! Just forget it, Jimmy! Forget me, forget my name, forget my face and everything! I'm Jack now – John is gone and won't come back!"_

"I know," James finally said. "You told me as much – back then when I still waited for you… you even told me that much when we were staring at each other, divided by the bars of your cell," he whispered, not daring to look at the other man and seeing the pity in his eyes.

James was a fool.

He was a grown man – a man who had been in the navy for most of his life and who had fought the worst of savages on the sea – and yet, he was still a fool in the end because it would just take one word from the man next to him and James would believe that man over everybody else again…

" _Didn't I tell you to listen to me?"_

 _The pained cry after the swishing sound of the wipe made the little boy hiding in the cupboard cringe._

" _I… I'm sorry, Father," the voice of the one person that was everything for the young boy stuttered. "It won't happen again, F…Father."_

 _Again, the swishing sound of the wipe could be heard, but this time around the one being punished didn't cry out._

" _It seems like your promises don't mean much considering that it already has happened again!" The angry voice of the father could be heard before again the wipe met soft flesh._

" _I… I'm sorry, Father," the other one stuttered. "I try to do better, I promise, Father!"_

 _And the little boy in the cupboard cried silent tears while wishing to have the bravery to step out of the cupboard and to confess that it wasn't his older brother who had destroyed the expensive statue but he, the younger one…_

" _I'm sorry, John," the little one whispered to himself. "I'm so sorry, John!" He never knew how often he repeated the words, the only thing he knew was that when he ended, the older one had enveloped him in his safe arms and was shushing him lovingly._

" _Don't be," the older one whispered. "I'm your big brother. I'm there to protect you."_

" _Always?" The younger one asked with tears in his eyes._

" _Always – even if I have to conquer death to do so."_

 _And the little one believed the older one like he always did…_

"Yes," the other man interrupted James' thoughts in that moment. "I told you that much – but I'm not sure that you truly listened to me when I did."

"Jo – Capt'n," James said, correcting himself again and the other one looked at him knowingly.

"Why is it so hard for you, Commodore?" He asked James. "I'm Capt'n Jack Sparrow – it's not a hard name to remember, is it?"

It wasn't, but yet, it was the hardest name James had ever to try to say.

"I try to do better in the future," James promised and the mocking smile of the other man vanished from one second to the other.

Instead, fury welled up in the other ones face.

"I'm not -!" Jack stopped mid-sentence and the fury was replaced by shame. "Don't, Lil'… just don't, savvy?"

And James nearly cried when the man in front of him nearly slipped up for the first time. But it was shame, not relief that filled him after listening to the other one slipping up.

"I never meant it like… I'd never compare you to him! Never!" He assured the other man shocked. "I know you'd never hurt me!"

The other man just crooked his head.

"I'm a pirate, Commodore," he stated. "Don't you remember your brother's belief? Never trust a pirate! Don't you remember your uncle's statement? Never trust a pirate! Don't you remember the _Admiral_ 's lection? _Never_ trust a pirate!"

But the only thing James could hear was the hatred when Jack spat out the rank of James' father…

For a moment, James eyes locked with the eyes of the other man, then he looked away up to the stars to ensure that he didn't have to look into the intense dark eyes of the man next to him.

" _I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves: A short drop and sudden stop_ ," he had told the little Miss Swan all those years ago and it had been a motto he lived by for over a decade.

And yet, the man next to him had always been the exception to that rule.

He had sailed into a tornado for that man next to him.

He had cried when he was about to hang the man next to him.

And he had ensured that the man next to him could flee when he miraculously managed to be freed from the gallows before he died on them.

Yet, even with all the exceptions he had made to ensure the other man's safety, James Lloyd Alexander Norrington was still the son of Lawrence Norrington, hater of all things pirate.

He would never be happy while sailing under a pirate flag – even if it was the pirate flag of that particular pirate next to him…

"I remember the words of Father, Uncle and you, Jo… Capt'n," James said instead while still looking up to the stars. "I don't need a reminder for them."

There was silence after that and for a few minutes both men were just looking up into the night sky, not talking at all.

It was soothing like that.

Homey.

" _John, what do you know of the stars?" James could hear his childish voice from all that time ago asking._

" _Lots, Lil' Jimmy," the older boy next to him replied and pulled the younger one closer until the younger one's head was resting on the older one's shoulder. "What do you want to know?"_

 _It was like that that James had learned his stars – his stars and thousands of other things…_

Staring into the night sky just reminded him of those easier times in his past…

Of course, it was then, that Jack Sparrow had to speak up again, his voice calm and matter-of-factly as if he had accepted the truth of his words long ago already.

"One day in the near future you will betray me," he commented softly, even a bit bitterly and when James opened his mouth to object, the other one raised his hand to silence him.

Of course it was also then, after he had dropped the bomb on James so calmly, that he finally uttered the name James had longed for since he started working for Jack on his ship…

"You will, Lil' Jimmy," Jack said and this time the bitterness had actually vanished and been replaced by the understanding that had been hidden before. "And even while knowing what you will do, I will still sit by and let you do it when the time finally comes."

"John," James said, this time uttering the name before he could even think about stopping himself. "I could never… I would never… I… I'm simply not made for the life you live…"

Then James cringed – a motion he would never have shown if the man next to him wasn't… hadn't been the man he was.

But then, he would have never admitted the truth even in a roundabout way to anybody else as well – something that the other one seemed to know, because he just leaned in and nudged James instead of feeling betrayed.

"I know," the older one said and closed his eyes before leaning back until he was lying onto the floor. "I know, Lil' Jimmy, I know."

At that admittance, James bit his lips and leaned back as well until he was lying next to the other – not touching, but yet close enough to feel the other ones body heat.

For a moment, James looked longingly up to the stars, wishing for easier times then he closed his eyes and sighed, his inner eye showing him scenes from the past – a past the man next to him seemed to have chosen not to remember anymore.

He was a bit surprised when his head was lifted just a few seconds after he had closed his eyes and then bedded onto a soft and warm shoulder.

Without a thought, James curled up into the warmth, barely registering that it had to be Jack's shoulder he was lying on.

Then Jack's other hand started to card through James' hair, loosening the pony tail he was wearing.

"The others aren't too happy with you, you know, Lil' Jimmy?" Jack's voice said in that soothing tone that reminded James of his childhood. "They think you don't show me enough respect, you know?"

James didn't dare to open his eyes, fearing that his bro… the capt'… no, his _brother_ would leave him if he did.

"Gibbs is the most agitated," Jack continued. "Something about you having trouble to remember my name or some such."

"John," James breathed and pressed his eyes further together. "I…"

A soothing hand in his hair stopped him from speaking further.

"Exactly," Jack said and there was a hidden smile in his voice. "That's the name Gibbs complained you've been using to describe me."

It was the smile, the slight mocking in the other ones voice that stopped James from apologizing.

"I thought that you told me that it's Jack now, not John," he murmured instead. "So shouldn't you scold me for forgetting those words?"

For a moment, the fingers in his hair stopped their caress, then the other one snorted amused.

"I think that after trying to teach you to call me Jack for years now, if you still haven't learned it, I should give it up as a lost cause," Jack replied fondly, his voice showing emotions his crew had never heard him express before.

But as foreign those expressed emotions from Jack were for the crew, as soothing they were for the commodore half-asleep on the pirate captain's shoulder.

"One day, you will hate me, John," James murmured tiredly. "One day you will hate me for all the betrayals I fostered on you for all of my life."

The answer was a soft laugh from the older one.

"I will never hate you, Lil' Jimmy," he said matter-of-factly. "Like you will never hate me, no matter what I do. This is how it is, and this is how it should be. It doesn't matter how often you will betray me, I will never be able to hate you even if I tried."

"Never?" James asked and he hated how much like his child-self he sounded with that desperate question.

"Never," his brother assured him. "Of course, you dying and leaving me alone, feeling like the worthless brother that I am would ensure that I could come close to hating you for leaving me, but I guess I would hate myself even more for not keeping you safe – but truly hating you? No, I don't think I will ever be able to do that."

With that, the older brother pulled the younger one closer while the younger one's breathing evened out.

It was about ten minutes after the younger one had drifted off to sleep when the older one spoke up again.

"Anything you wanted from me, Mr Gibbs?" He asked into the night, his voice far softer than it usually was. For a moment, nothing moved, then Gibbs stepped out from behind the stairs that led up to the heck.

"Jack," he said and for the first time there was distress in his voice. "I…"

"You will stop harassing him and give him a cot like every other pirate on the ship has one as well?" Jack asked softly, with danger lurking hidden beneath it.

Gibbs gulped.

"He's… not a pirate, Jack," he finally said. "He will betray us, I say."

"He isn't and he will," Jack assured the other man and Gibbs stared at him in confusion before his eyes fell onto the sleeping James Norrington on Jack's shoulder.

"If you know this, Capt'n," he said slowly. "Why do you let him close?"

Jack's free hand just carded through James' hair again.

"Sometimes, Mr Gibbs," he said slowly. "We can't explain the heart. He's my enemy, he will always be my enemy – but I will never forgive myself if Lil' Jimmy dies."

The other pirate raised an eyebrow at that.

"Does he know you call him that, Jack?" He asked a bit amused and a bit afraid for the sanity of his captain.

"Of course he does, Mr Gibbs!" Jack replied indignantly, yet still quite quietly. "I don't call people names behind their back!"

Gibbs just shook his head at his captain.

"Don't call him that while I'm near," he said. "I don't fancy to have to kill him as well after he killed you or some such…"

Jack raised his free hand from the sleeping commodore's hair and waved it off.

"Don't worry 'bout that, Mr Gibbs!" He exclaimed. "It's like him calling me 'John' – I might not like it, but I'll tolerate it as long it's him who's calling me that."

Gibbs stared at Jack.

"So… you know what he's calling you and you don't mind it, Jack?" He asked surprised.

Jack raised his head just enough to be able to actually look at the other pirate in disbelief.

"You are aware that 'Jack' is just a nickname for 'John', aren't you, Mr Gibbs?" He said with a frown.

Gibbs blinked.

"Are you telling me that your name's actually _John_ and _Norrington_ knows it?" He replied with as much disbelief as Jack had expressed.

Jack's head bumped back onto the ground.

"Of course my actual name is John, Mr Gibbs," he said matter-of-factly. "What else should it be?"

"Er… maybe… _Jack_?" The other man said a bit stumped. "That's how you call yourself after all – and that's how everybody else calls you!"

"Everybody else but Lil' Jimmy," Jack corrected him immediately.

"Yes, Jack," Gibbs sighed. "Everybody else but Lil'… I mean _Norrington_. Don't confuse me, Jack!"

"Don't let me confuse you, Mr Gibbs!" Jack replied immediately and the other pirate sighed.

That was when the other pirate seemed to catch up mentally with their chat.

"Wait a moment, Jack," he said with a frown. "How comes that _Norrington_ knows your name is John but nobody else?"

"No, Mr Gibbs, you should ask a different question," Jack corrected Gibbs. "The question is: Why does everybody else not know that my name is John but Lil' Jimmy?"

"Norrington, Jack!" Gibbs corrected him. "If you don't call him that, I'll call you John – so remember 'Norrington'!"

Jack blinked and then crooked his head at Gibbs.

"It's actually 'John Lawrence Edward Norrington'," he said matter-of-factly before shrugging. "But I guess I can live with 'John Soremember Norrington' as well."

Gibbs opened his mouth at that to reply, but the only thing he managed to utter was a confused 'Wha – huh?', before he went straight to letting his jaw falling to the ground.

"Are you having me on, Jack? That's not funny!" He exclaimed finally, just to be graced with a confused look from Jack.

"What are you talking about, Mr Gibbs?" He asked while actually raising his head again to look at the other man.

Gibbs sat down heavily on the floor where he stood.

"Norrington," he mumbled. "My Capt'n is related to Norrington. My Capt'n _is_ a Norrington! By the devil and the angels above – how in god's name did the Admiral live with the fact that a relation of his is a pirate?!"

"Son," Jack corrected cheerfully, obviously oblivious to the state of Gibbs.

"Wha-?" Gibbs uttered and Jack, helpfully repeated his answer.

"Son," he said. "Honestly, Mr Gibbs, you should learn listening to your Capt'n a bit better."

"Sure," Gibbs replied and fainted.

Jack send the unconscious man an amused look, then he bedded his head onto the planks and closed his eyes as well.

"Seems like tonight I'll be sleeping outside," he said to himself while his free hand again carded through his sleeping brother's hair. "And there I thought that pirates were sturdier than that when it comes to the unknown."

And with a mental head-shake at Gibbs, Jack went to sleep as well.

The next morning, not one of the men spoke about the night before. They just went their way and acted like usual…

And if Gibbs was a bit more careful while talking about Norrington anywhere near Jack then it was easily explained away by Jack's harsh words to the rest of the crew when it came to the treatment of one of their own.

When Norrington turned, Jack didn't act heartbroken. He just went on as if he and Norrington hadn't been more than acquaintances. They fought against each other, crossed blades with each other and left Will not even guessing their relationship.

And if Gibbs left Jack his ration rum after Norrington turned, nobody said anything because Jack was known to drink the ration of others on top of his own. And if Jack was a little bit less weird and a bit more serious, nobody noticed because nobody knew him good enough to notice.

When James finally heard that Jack had in the end drowned on top of his ship, the Black Pearl, he couldn't believe it even if everybody else told him it was true.

But in James head, he could still hear his brother's voice, nearly as eternal as the love his brother had for him, promising him a promise that James would always believe in.

" _I'm your big brother. I'm there to protect you."_

" _Always?" The younger one asked with tears in his eyes._

" _Always – even if I have to conquer death to do so."_

"Commodore," the man in front of James said. "The news are true. It seems like Jack Sparrow died when the Black Pearl sunk."

"Thank you for your report, Master Graves," James replied. "Now, please leave me alone."

The man bowed and left and James sunk into his chair.

It couldn't be.

It simply wasn't possible.

He knew that much, his memory told him that much!

" _Even if you were the one trying to kill me, Lil' Jimmy. There's nothing that would stop me from being your brother – not even death."_

His brother had always lived, his brother had always kept his promises!

For a moment, James was again that little boy safe in the embrace of his big brother after a nightmare.

He was the little boy standing at his window, staring at the sea and praying that John was still alive.

The young boy safe in the arms of his brother after being rescued by his uncle...

He was again the young man on a ship and praying that John was anywhere out there.

The young, future Commodore standing on the walls of Port Royal, looking out towards the sea and praying that he wouldn't meet John any time in the future ever again…

And the Commodore, hiding away in the arms of his brother the day before he had to hang him…

" _If you can't believe in the legend of Capt'n Jack Sparrow, my dear Commodore, then let me assure you, that John Lawrence Edward Norrington doesn't break a promise, savvy?"_

No, John Lawrence Edward Norrington didn't break promises – even if he had to return from death to keep them.

James was aware of that.

James believed in that.

He believed in that as deeply as the fact, that pirates couldn't be trusted.

But then, Jack Sparrow was his brother – and therefore always the exception of the rule.

" _I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves: A short drop and sudden stop_ ," and yet, if he could, Jack Sparrow would never be one of them – even if he had to die to keep his brother safe…

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Well, I was asked to add to my first story, so here it is…

I hope you liked it.

Ebenbild


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